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The Bransons

Once upon a time, Richard Branson was a high-school dropout with some big ideas. Today, his Virgin Group controls more than 300 companies. His parents, Eve and Ted, reflect on the less-than-traditional child-rearing methods that brought up a billionaire

By

Joshua Levine

Updated April 28, 2011 12:01 a.m. ET

You meet four of Richard Branson's parents as you walk into the Tudor-paneled living room of their sprawling estate in West Wittering on the southern coast of England. There's Eve and Ted Branson today; she's a coquettish 86 and he's a stately 93. It's his birthday, and the couple are waiting impatiently for their three children and 11 grandchildren to turn up for a big bash.

Then there are the other two, hanging on the wall—the painted Eve and Ted as they looked just after their marriage in 1949. He looks resolute and...